This is a blog about my fifth trip to Tanzania, scheduled for March 2 through June 1. That's June 1, 2010. I actually stayed on into June, 2011. But I've been back in the U.S. for months, so this is now a blog about other stuff. If you'd like to read about Tanzania, check out the archives for February, 2010 through July, 2011. If you'd like to read about what I'm doing now, dive right in...

Sunday, January 2, 2011

A Different Kind of Southern Africa Detective Story

Here's my review from the Goodreads website of a book set in Africa that I recently enjoyed. Not great literature, but a great trashy read.

Here's a good scary story set in Africa that plays off all those scary witch-doctors-using-stolen-body-parts stories that I've been hearing since I came to Africa. A little trashy, but I couldn't put it down. This is a story for those who want the opposite end of the African story spectrum from the Number One Ladies' Detective Agency stories!

If it is really scary, I might not want to read it . . . I've lived in Africa (Kenya, Ghana) for ten years or so, and I've heard enough of the "real" scary stuff that reading this might give me nightmares.

There's one graphically violent scene of 2 or 3 pages (that I skipped over!). There are 3 scenes of "religious" rituals where people are drugged and disappear, and one of these has a graphic description of animal sacrifice. There are a couple of scenes of characters finding dead animals in their houses. Most of the book is not graphic, but suspenseful, but the topic is scary. Overall, though I enjoyed the book, I'd say it's not good enough to read it if you're worried about it being too much!

About Me

I've been visiting Tanzania since a first tour in 2006 to climb Kilimanjaro and see the wildlife in the Serengeti. On my fifth visit, I intended to stay for three months, then return home to the US with my Tanzanian fiance. However, things changed as they often do, and I stayed for over a year. I returned to America, intending to stay only a few weeks, but I'm still here,and will be for the foreseeable future. As my recent history illustrates, I'm not sure whether I'm coming or going or where I might end up. Join me while I figure it out!